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But only recently did I read a clear document on the risks and rewards of patent strategy. Thanks to Russ Krajec, a patent attorney, for the quick improvement in my education, here are some important points to consider when thinking of your patent strategy. What is the true cost of patenting an idea? And private.
It''s a place where people can submit their ideas and patents, and we provide a platform for them to try to find entrepreneurs who would like to work on those patents together with us an the crowd. How do entrepreneurs get involved? That gives us access to the patents from those federal labs and universities have.
I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).
An invalidated patent or one deemed to infringe the rights of another party can devastate a startup. Defensible Claims - Some companies take pride in the number of patents they own. However, there is not a direct correlation between a patent portfolio’s value and the number of patents which comprise the portfolio.
I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. This patent holding company has charged infringement and demanded royalties from every app developer for the iPhone and Android, for a feature most agree has been in apps for many years.
Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need.
I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The bad news is that patent trolls can squeeze the lifeblood out of innocent and unsuspecting entrepreneurs, as exemplified by the current mess around Lodsys patent No.
Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. . Let me tell you a short story at my own expense. Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs immediately respond. There is no competition.”
Founded by Steve Poizner last year to accelerate the growth of a startup entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California, The Alliance is building a network of investors, entrepreneurs and universities to provide ballast in the south to the dominance of the Northern California tech industry.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to intellectual property and current research. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.
Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.
In the creation of a new enterprise, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. Second: Market risk. And fifth: Competitive risk.
Risk level has always been directly correlated to the number of unknowns, so eliminating even one variable will improve your odds: Eliminate one aspect of research and development. According to a recent Harvard Research study, first-time inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators.
After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Lack of intellectual property.
Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.
Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. How can you improve your odds?
Mark noted that even if an entrepreneur does not become a master developer, by simply understanding the software development process, they will be a more effective startup leader. In Mark Suster’s recent talk at UC Santa Barbara , he advised his audience of entrepreneurial students to master two skills: selling and coding.
Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.
An understanding of intellectual property is essential to companies, universities, entrepreneurs, researchers and inventors. This introductory survey will provide you with the ability to identify intellectual property and determine how to best protect it--including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
Based on my own experience and feedback from friends, every investor is approached by at least ten entrepreneurs with a “hot idea” for a new business, for every one who has a real “plan” for a new business. In fact, you can find websites full of ideas, like these “ Free Innovative Ideas ,” by serial entrepreneur Kim E.
In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. A long-term advantage usually also requires intellectual property, such as a patent, trade secret, or trademark.
Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.
Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.
Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. But wait for the mic drop… [Email readers, continue here…] Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. Market research matters? Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs immediately respond.
Santa Monica-based Fundable (www.fundable.com) is a newly launched, crowdfunding site which is headed by local entrepreneur Wil Shroter. Dolgoff has a fascinating background--he invented the first LCD projector, he helped inspire Star Trek's Holodeck, and he also is a serial entrepreneur who took his company public on the NASDAQ in the 90's.
Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.
Ali Khoshgozaran: During my five years at USC, my research was in the area of spatial and temporal information management. I spent five years researching interesting ways to organize data on time and location. tilofy location data science computer bigdata parsing filtering interview startup entrepreneur southern california'
Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to intellectual property and current research. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.
In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. compete in the marketplace? Second: Market risk. .
If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. Of course, the first one gets the patent. Of course, you still have to do your homework and market research.
As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. and trademarks.
Helping solicit new business ideas and patents from individuals, federal research labs, universities and other R&D organizations countrywide. Members submit ideas and patents, the JumpStartFund community members and the JumpStartFund team vets them. El Segundo, CA based JumpStarter Inc., Social network for investors.
In fact, an entrepreneur friend of mine, who made millions on her marketing expertise, asserted recently that most inventors fail in business because they refuse to believe that any business expertise or experience is worth more than 5 percent in partner equity. Patents are not worth the effort, since big companies will win.
If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. Of course, the first one gets the patent. Of course, you still have to do your homework and market research.
In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. A long-term advantage usually also requires intellectual property, such as a patent, trade secret or trademark.
After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Lack of intellectual property.
Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Martin Zwilling.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to intellectual property and current research. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.
Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.
Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch. Research your audience before presenting. The most respected presenters are the ones who have done the research before-hand to know who is in the audience, and have tailored their message to these interests. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
The Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University shared data that shows the state is the nation’s second-largest exporter of life sciences products , with $9.9 Several world-class research institutions are located in the state, including Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame.
Bitvore is based in Irvine, and is backed by serial entrepreneur Yuri Pikover, as well as other angels. He ran DARPA research out of UC Irvine for almost a decade, until stepping out and focusing purely on entrepreneurial efforts. Tell me about Bitvore - what''s your technology used for? We''re using state of the art tools.
Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Martin Zwilling
No known patents filed. Maybe the solution hasn’t yet been commercialized, but a patent has been submitted by someone else, putting your idea in jeopardy. Another series of searches on Google Patents and the US Patent Office site and Free Patents Online is in order at this point. Large and growing market.
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